(2006) 140 Cal.App.4th 1288

The Court of Appeal held that the City of Placerville should have prepared an EIR for the proposed construction of a hotel, gas station, and convenience store complex, rather than relying on an addendum to a mitigated negative declaration adopted for an earlier project that involved the same land and contained similar components, but was never built. Opponents of the proposed project argued that an addendum was inappropriate because the proposed project did not involve only minor technical changes from the previous project, but rather, would cause new significant environmental effects and substantial increases in previously identified effects. The court held that the project was a “new” project, rather than a modification of the previously approved version, because they had different project proponents and the court could find no evidence in the record that the new project proponent had relied on the previous project’s plans and studies for his application for the new version. Thus, the court ruled that the City’s application of Public Resources Code section 21166, governing subsequent or supplemental review of previously studied projects, and CEQA Guidelines section 15164, regarding the use of addenda, were inapplicable to the new project. [RMM Counsel of record: Whitman F. Manley and Sabrina V. Teller]